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United We Stand pt. 1United We Stand
By NorthernStar

Disclaimer: Hannibal, Face, Murdock, BA, Richter and the A Team are
all property of Stephen J Cannell. No
infringement is intended. This is strictly an amateur work meant for
the enjoyment of the fans and no money has been
made. Kim Tailor, Isabelle are my own characters, however, and are
copyright me.

Summery: The Team comes out of retirement when Murdock's baby daughter
Isabelle is kidnapped.

Notes: This story is a sequel to We Are Family and will probably make
no sense if you haven't read it. Hannibal fans -
I will be writing a short piece on Josh's arrival in the Smith household
at a later date.

<Words> is someone speaking Vietnamese.

***

Part 1

Briggs licked his lips nervously as he watched the man in front of him.
He knew Farrell's reputation, knew he had the
Syndicate in his pocket. Although Briggs had done business with the
Syndicate, he was yet to curry enough favour
with them. This man was the key to achieving that.

If he could just do as he was asked...but he wasn't a brave man. He was
scared and the bastard in front of him knew it.
Briggs could only hope to convince him to take another ‘item' instead
of the one he was asking for.

"An' then there's this one..."

"That is not the one I want." The Bastard said quietly, his eyes telling
Briggs not to cross him.

Briggs swallowed and glanced at the Bastard's wife. She sat clutching
her bag to her chest, her face place and drawn
beneath a curtain of honey blonde hair.

"But..."

"THAT IS NOT THE ONE!" Briggs gave a cry as Farrell grabbed his shirt,
"I have told you what I want and I was led
to believe you could deliver!"

"Yes...yes I can, but this one..."

"Money is no object." The man let him go.

"Yes, you-you are very generous, but..."

"You would be wise not to cross me, Briggs." He said, "I have some influential
friends, they recommended you in fact.
They'd be most displeased to hear you let me down."

Briggs swallowed; he'd heard the rumours, of course and believed them
but to actually hear Farrell threaten him with
the Syndicate...He knew he was caught between a rock and a hard place
but foolishly he decided to speak out. "Sir, this
merchandise...it belongs to-"

"I KNOW WHO HAS THE GIRL!" He took hold of Brigg's shirt again, "you
WILL bring her to me or I promise you,
you will beg me for your own death."

Summer '92. LA

Murdock jumped out of the Cessna onto the hot tarmac. He preferred more
agile craft, sleeker and a lot more powerful,
the kind of thing he flew as a teen in the Thunderbirds, but he loved
the Cessna for it's sentimental value. It
represented many things, the most obvious being his mental healing.

And the most important; this was the only plane his late partner had
ever flown. It was at the controls he'd fallen in
love with her. And it was right here, standing at the door; she'd said
those magical words when she'd kissed him
goodbye. "We'll miss you." He'd looked blankly at her a moment, "we?"
and she had touched her belly then laid a
finger to her lips.

Speaking of we...

A nineteen-month old girl was holding her arms out for him to lift her
out of the plane. Issie was a beautiful child,
bright and happy, and you knew the moment you saw her big brown eyes
that she was someone special.

He scooped his daughter up and swung her up onto his shoulders and began
walking. He scanned the cars parked in the
distance and frowned when he failed to see Face's.

In the past few months, Face had begun to grow increasing restless with
his role in the Murdock household. He was
more reluctant to sit Issie and often stayed over at a girlfriend's
house. In a way, Murdock understood Face's feelings
and wanted to see him happy. In another he was angry, Issie loved her
‘uncle' almost as a second father and his sudden
disinterest affected her like an abandonment.

Murdock saw a flash of copper gold hair ahead of him. "Jen!"

The woman turned and broke into a grin when she saw who it was. "Hey,
Murdock!" She waved at Issie, "hello,
beautiful!"

Issie grinned and waved back.

Jen waited until Murdock had caught her up and then fell into step behind
him, talking flight plans and other pilot stuff
as they headed towards the car park. Jennifer Kinsolving or Kinnie
as everyone else and that included her own mother
called her, was one of his former students. She had natural talent
in the air and it had come as no surprise to him that
the airfield had offered her a job the moment she got her license.

"Haven't seen Face have you?" He asked suddenly.

Jen shrugged, "not since the other day." She looked up at Issie, knowing
he and Face arranged their working days
around the little girl so one of them was with her at all times. She
admired them for that. Jen paused, wondering
whether to say the next bit, "let you down again, huh?"

Murdock sighed, if the people he worked with had noticed... "Yeah."

"I...I guess I could have her for a few hours, I had fun last time."

Murdock hesitated a moment, she'd already helped out more times than
he cared to admit but, on the other hand, he had
a prospective student waiting.

"Murdock!"

He turned to the voice and saw Alice, Face's latest, rushing towards
them. He liked her a lot; she was quieter and
sweeter than the usual Face type. A little symptom of the effect Issie
was having on her ‘uncle'.

"Face got held up, he sent me to pick her up." Alice reached up for
the girl. "He's really sorry."

"Yeah."

Alice probably heard the note of anger in his voice, but chose to forgive
it.

"I won't be long," Murdock said, "coupla hours."

"That's OK," she smiled, "We'll have fun, won't we, sweetie?"

*****

Face glanced back into the garden before stepping into the house. Isabelle
sat at the edge of her sandpit, shovelling sand
into a small bucket. He smiled at the look of intense concentration
on her face and the happiness in her eyes.
Sometimes, he thought, you look so much like your mommy. At the memory
of Kim, he felt a pang of the deep
unending pain that was all he had left of her. Murdock at least had
the comfort of knowing Kim's love, of the touching
of their souls and of her gift of a child, Face had nothing but the
hurt he kept hidden.

Alice came out of the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee. Face smiled
at her. She was pretty and kind and happy
and...she wasn't Kim. No matter what, that's what it always came down
too.

Kim was the woman he would love to the grave and no one would ever take
her place.

He let Alice take his hand and lead him into the house.

*****

Murdock shook the hand of his client; satisfied that he had another
student. He hated having to spend even more time
away from Isabelle but he needed the money; he was barely scrapping
by on what he earned as it was. He'd only
recently returned to teaching, having stopped working when Kim died
to care for Issie. With the mortgage payments,
the bills for the house, food and car as well as the usual baby expenses,
the money he'd saved from the Team's jobs
while on the run had dried up fairly quickly.

When Face had moved in, things had been easier. There was always someone
around to look after Isabelle whenever he
needed to go out. And when his savings had gone, it had been so easy
to return to work.

The result was that he'd relied on Face a little too much. Face, who
had never known commitment all his life. Had
spent much of his life running from it. It wasn't surprising he was
starting to feel a little trapped. Murdock didn't
blame Face for wanting to be free again, but he knew it would be tough
without him.

He began walking toward his car. Kim's car. Despite it's age, he hadn't
been able to part with it. She'd loved the little
Beetle as much as BA loved his van. Kim and BA...the memory made him
smile. BA had souped the Beetle up for her
shortly before Isabelle was born, arguing, "I ain't gonna ‘low no pregnan'
woman ta fix a car!"

Wrapped in his thoughts, Murdock opened the car door and got in. As
he started the engine something caught his eye.
A figure stood by the road, tall and lanky, and he had a sudden flash
of the familiar. Murdock frowned, he knew him
from somewhere but then the feeling was gone and the man was a stranger
again.

A sense of déjà vu floated at the edges of his mind. He
shivered with sudden cold as a sickness churned his stomach;
he'd be having nightmares tonight.

*****

Briggs watched the blonde man leave his merchandise in the garden. He
smiled, funny how the ones you thought would
be hard usually turned out to be a walk over. Maybe the rumours about
these guys were over-blown.

He stayed where he was, waiting to see if the man returned. Anyone who
didn't take care of their kid deserved to have
‘em snatched. And the kids deserved to have decent parents.

And, hey, if he made money out of it at the same time...well, everyone
was happy, right?

He allowed ten minutes to past just to be on the safe side...

Then he stepped out of his car and walked towards the child.

*****

"Hello, little one."

Issie looked up at the grown-up who spoke. He loomed over her, much
like BA did, but this man made her feel small
and frightened. BA would never do that.

"All on your own?" He asked.

She looked around for Face but he wasn't in the garden. "Fays!" She
told the stranger, pointing to the house. "Daddy."
She said, shaking her head to indicate he wasn't home.

The man knelt down. "Daddies should always be home with their little
girls." He murmured, "he obviously doesn't
love you."

"Yesss!" Tears formed in her brown eyes. "Does!"

"I can find you a new Daddy and a Mommy, who'll love you and always
be with you."

"No! Daddy!" The words scared her and Issie started running, desperate
to find her father, the need to curl up in his
embrace almost unbearable, "DADDY!"

She fell heavily and the man grabbed her arms, pulling her onto her
feet. Hands muffled her screams. They covered her
mouth and lifted her. She struggled in a blind panic, calling for her
daddy but terror and the man's hands turned her
words into soundless gasps. Then they let go, throwing her into the
back of a car. The door slammed shut. She stood
up on the seat and began battering the window.

"DADDY! DADDY!"

"Shuddup!" The man yelled, "why the hell do they always do that? Hey,
Kid, the Farrell's chose you ‘specially! Gonna
grow up stinkin' rich so quit bawlin'"

Her sobs were drowned out by the sound of the car engine.

*****

Murdock slowly drove the Beetle up the road towards the house. If Face
was going to be out with Alice...again...he
decided he'd take Isabelle to Captain BellyBusters. The staff adored
Issie, and besides the new manageress was lovely.

A car was in front of his house. It pulled away and he saw the figure
in the back. A wave of intense terror hit him.
"ISSIE!"

He yanked harshly on the steering wheel, turning the car. He stepped
on the gas and the Beetle surged forward, closing
the gap between him and the BMW that Issie was trapped in.

*****

Briggs swore when he saw the Kid's dad in the car approaching, smiled
when he saw the horror on his face as Murdock
realised what was happening. The father slued his car round and Briggs
chuckled. He was giving chase in a Beetle. Who
had a Beetle these days?

"DADDY! DADDY!" The Kid was screaming, "want Daddy!" She could see her
father's car following and her panic
was palpable.

"For God's sake, SHUDDUP!"

"DADDY! DADDY!" Her screams were hoarse and strangled by sobs. He glanced
back at her, she was still pounding
on the window, her hands now bruised and spots of blood had begun to
form in the nails. He grabbed her dress to pull
her back down onto the seat. It was soaking.

"Shit!"

Her diaper had come loose in the struggle and she'd obviously pissed
herself with fear. He wiped his hand on his
trouser leg, deciding to leave her standing. So she got a little damaged,
that Farrell Bastard would still pay up.

*****

Murdock brought the Beetle along side the BMW. Years of experience in
the Team had taught him to push aside the
initial gut-wrench of terror and shock. Fear was useless, panic was
disabling, anger made you powerful. And hate could
drive you. Separate the useful emotions and discarded the rest.

Their car windows were side by side. He stared at the evil man who'd
taken his child. A thousand scenarios ran through
his mind, all those reports he'd heard on the news, the terrible, terrible
things men could do to little children for their
own gratification.

In that moment he knew. Knew this man would die.

Knew it would be him who killed him.

He swung the Beetle in front of the BMW. The sound of metal against
metal filled his ears, the world narrowed, fading
into a dark haze. From a great distance he realised his head had hit
the steering wheel; the thought fighting the warmth
that spread through him, a drowsiness that tempted him to embrace the
darkness.

"DADDY! DADDY!" The screams brought him to.

Isabelle!

He moved and a pain lanced through his neck. Whiplash, he realised dimly.
Despite the discomfort he dragged his body
from the car. He stumbled when he stood up, just managing to get his
balance. His limbs felt so heavy.

In the back of his mind he realised the Beetle was wreaked.

Oh, Kim...he thought.

*****

Briggs had been stunned by the crash. The crazy bastard! But the gamble
had paid off.

The kid was silent, probably in shock. At least he hoped it was shock
and not something worse, Farrell wouldn't be
happy.

He had a feeling that neither would he.

He looked round at the kid; she'd fallen forward on impact into the
foot well behind the passenger seat, her face sticky
with tears and mucus. As soon as their eyes met, she screamed out again,
bawling for her daddy.

He turned back to the wheel and turned the key, hoping the damage to
the front of the car wasn't too serious. The
engine protested, making a sickening err-ing noise.

The car door flew open and the kid's dad grabbed him. The kid's sobs
turned into incoherent gasps and wails at the
sight of her father.

*****

"You fucking bastard!"

Murdock screamed as he pulled the man out of the car, his fists flying,
intent on causing pain. His anger spurned him
on but narrowed his vision. Couldn't see anything beyond the rage.
Briggs got lucky with a right hook, sending
Murdock sprawling. Briggs grinned, best thing he'd seen in ages. He
couldn't resist the temptation to kick the man in
the stomach and chuckled at the groan of pain that produced. Hell,
Farrell'd probably give him a bonus for that.

He ran to the BMW and jumped in. He glanced at the kid. She was deathly
pale, silent. He turned the key and almost
cheered when the ignition caught. He revved the car a moment and watched
the kid's dad struggle over to the car. He
smiled, met his eyes then stepped on the gas. Murdock's anguished cry
echoed in his ears and he laughed.

*****

Murdock heard his own scream as the car drove off. Knew the Beetle was
useless. His legs propelled him forward, his
long strides covering ground quickly but there was no hope of catching
the car.

"ISSIE! ISSIE!" His cries strangled by sobs, "God, Issie!"

Tears streamed down his cheeks. He was gasping for breath, his lungs
on fire, but he still ran. Despite the
hopelessness, he still ran. Couldn't stop as a wave of panic drove
him on and on. He could hear his own screaming of
his daughter's name as something not connected to himself. Car horns
blared at him as he dodged between the traffic.
Eventually his fatigued legs simply gave out and he stumbled, landing
hard on the road. He heard tyres squeal. Then
silence.

Murdock looked up. A Ford had managed to stop just inches from hitting
him.

"Issie." He whispered, then the exhaustion and pain overtook him and
he began to sob.

*****

Face pulled away from Alice, breathing heavily. He wanted to grab her
and pull her into his room and make love to
her. But Issie was outside. Murdock would be back soon and then they'd
have all the time they needed. It could wait...

Alice smiled at him.

Couldn't it?

*****

There were people all around him. Too many people. He couldn't breathe.
The urge to give in to blind panic was
almost overwhelming. He hadn't been able to save her. She'd been screaming
his name; he could still hear it, echoing
in his mind.

"The police have been called." The woman said, "you need an ambulance."

"NO...Issie!" He struggled to his feet, wincing as he put pressure on
his left ankle, which had twisted badly when he
fell. He tried to limp after the BMW, knowing it was hopeless. He didn't
even know what direction they'd gone in
anymore. But he couldn't stay here. Couldn't simply do nothing while
some bastard might be robbing his baby of her
innocence at that moment.

The woman held him back. "You need to go to hospital. The police will
find your daughter."

Sirens wailed in the distance. Murdock's legs gave out from under him
and he collapsed onto the road. He stayed where
he fell, rocking himself as tears streamed down his face.

"Issie," he murmured to himself, "Issie, Issie..."

*****

Through the heat of the desire growing in him, a realisation dawned.
It was silent. Face pushed Alice away, listening
hard. He didn't hear anything. Hadn't heard anything in quite a while.

Issie!

He got up off the sofa and hurried to the back door. He rushed out into
the garden. "Issie?"

Nothing.

SHIT!

The toys in the sandpit and Issie's little ride-on train looked as if
they were still in the same position as when he'd
gone inside. He'd been gone, what? Five minutes? Ten at the most. Nothing
could've happened in that short a time.
No, she was hiding. She had to be hiding.

"Issie! This isn't a game, come out!"

There was no telltale giggle.

"Come out now!" Please, he almost added.

Again there was nothing. His heart began racing.

"Honey?" Alice joined him in the garden

"Ally, I can't find Isabelle."

"She's probably over at the Peterson's, you know she's got a crush on
their youngest boy."

The neighbours! Relief flooded through him. Of course! Issie was one
of those children who just made friends
everywhere, adults, kids, teenagers, old folk...didn't matter, everyone
loved her. She'd gotten bored and wandered over
to the Peterson's once before.

"I'll go get her. Murdock should be back soon then we can..."

Alice gave a big grin, "yeah."

He touched her nose as he passed and went to collect Isabelle.

*****

Detective Dave Bowen had never liked the idea of a female partner. Beth
Tanner was good cop and a damn fine looking
woman, but he'd never settled into the buddyness with her as he had
with his male partners. No matter what, he was
always reminded she was, well, a she.

But at times like these she was a blessing.

The man sitting in the ambulance being tended by a paramedic was a mess.
His body shaking badly with terror and
shock and barely contained rage. He was refusing to go to hospital
despite some obvious injuries. And every so often
he would break down into tears.

Bowen tried to swallow away the tightness in his throat as he listened
to the poor man beg again and again for them to
find his baby. He had a child himself, a little boy, and could only
begin to guess what the man was going through.

His partner had coaxed some information from him. His name was HM Murdock
and as he kept telling them over and
over, his daughter had been kidnapped.

"Do you have a recent photo of Isabelle?" Tanner asked gently.

Murdock reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened
it and took out a small picture. He handed it to
Tanner who, after a quick look, gave it to her partner. Bowen stared
at the beautiful blonde haired girl. She had a
bright, happy smile and lovely rosy cheeks and the most enormous and
unusual brown eyes he'd ever seen. Her dad's
eyes, he realised.

"What did the man look like?" He asked.

"Caucasian, brown hair...Issie, I have to find her."

"I know, do you remember anything else about him?"

"Crooked nose...clean-clean shaven." The memory of the man who'd taken
his little girl sent a shudder through him.
Bowen was about to touch his arm in sympathy but Tanner beat him to
it.

"Did you get the license number?" She asked.

Murdock shook his head, "B-BMW...light blue. I have to find-"

"The best thing you can do right now is give us as much information
as you can." Tanner said. "We'll put an APB out
on that car." She glanced up at Bowen, who nodded once and took the
photo and information to the police car to put
out the APB.

"We should probably take you to the General to have that ankle looked
at." The paramedic said as he finished cleaning
the scratches and bruises Murdock had gained in the fight with the
kidnapper.

"NO!" Murdock said.

Bowen returned to the ambulance, "I called it in. They'll be a complete
news blackout on this. Mr Murdock, we'd like
to take you down the station to start going through mugshots."

Murdock nodded, "Blackout? Why a blackout, the more people who know..."

"Standard procedure early on in abduction cases, we don't want to spook...um,"
he trailed off when he saw the fear in
Murdock's eyes. Murdock covered his mouth with his hand, pressing down
hard. Bowen wondered if he was going to
throw up.

"We'll find her," he promised.

*****

The family was just sitting down to dinner when Face got to the Peterson's.
He apologised for the interruption and
asked for Isabelle. Fear hit him when they said they hadn't seen her.

"How long's she been gone?" Len Peterson asked.

"I...ten...ten minutes, I guess." Face stuttered, "she was playing in the
garden..."

"C'mon," he said, "I'll help you look."

They walked back out the door and Face gasped.

Oh God, no.

In front of Murdock's house a police car had pulled up.

*****

So many faces. Murdock stared at yet another page full of pictures.
Men who fit the rough description he'd given the
police of the man he'd seen abducting Isabelle. Pages and pages of
photos in countless books. Were there so many evil
people out there?

He could see him in his head as clear as if he were standing in front
of him. Was he in this book? The next? Had he
taken children before?

And if he wasn't? How would they find him? Would Issie just be another
face on a milk carton?

He had so many questions screaming at him and he couldn't take comfort
in fantasy, as he once would have. This was
too real. He wanted so much to just give in to sobs, but he couldn't.

Just as he couldn't cry after Kim died.

Did that mean he thought she was dead?

NO!

No she wasn't dead. He'd feel that if she were dead.

Where are you, Baby? He wondered.

*****

Briggs kept a firm grip of the Kid's wrist as he marched her into his
office. Her dress was still sopping wet and she
stunk of piss, but at least she was quiet now. She hadn't made a sound
since she'd seen him kicking her dad on the
ground.

Thank God for that small mercy, he hated the noise the kids always made.
One of these days he'd go deaf because of it.

When he got to the office he dumped her onto a chair, wincing at the
acrid dampness of her clothes he was forced to
touch. Whipping his hands on his jeans, he walked over to the phone.
He picked it up and dialled. Someone answered.

"Mur-Murdock?" He asked; how the hell was he ever going to explain it
to him. How do you tell a father you let
someone take his child?

"Mr Murdock is at the precinct, looking through photos of known criminals.
He saw the man who took her."

"He was...he was?"

"He saw the abduction take place, yes. Did you see or hear anything
suspicious?"

"N-no."

"Could you accompany us down to the station to make a statement?"

"Yeah...yeah.... there's-there's someone I have to phone first."

*****

Maggie Smith stood watching her husband though the window as he chased
a small brown haired boy across the grass.
She still couldn't believe it.

They were a family.

After all the heartache of the past year as their attempts at IVF failed,
it almost didn't seemed real that Josh was here.
The adoption of the boy had been so free of incident. They'd both been
so worried that their age and John's past would
count against them, but the adoption agency had been enlightened in
their judgement. They'd seen the love they had to
offer and approved them.

The phone rang and she left the window to answer it.

*****

Hannibal looked back at the house as he heard the phone ring. When it
stopped he knew Maggie had answered it. It was
probably Murdock. Or maybe Face, since the two of them were raising
Isabelle together.

He smiled, remembering the mess Face had been in when he'd turned up
on the doorstep a couple of years back, his
friendship with Murdock in tatters. Now he was helping Murdock raise
his child.

He glanced at Josh. Yeah, kids'll do that to you.

"JOHN!"

Maggie came racing out, shock clear on her face.

"What is it?"

"That was Face...Its Issie, she's missing!"

*****

Briggs looked up when the door swung open. Farrell walked in, his wife
following behind.

Isabelle shrunk back into her chair and Briggs expected to hear her
bawling again.

"This is Isabelle Murdock?" Farrell asked and pointed at the shaking
baby.

"I said I'd deliver, Far...Mr Farrell."

"Lisa, is that the one?"

Farrell's wife came forward and peered into the girl's face. "She's
the spitting image of Kim."

"I have the adoption papers here." Briggs took a wad of paper out of
his desk; "they're quite legal I assure you. But
they do come at an extra cost."

"I think you know where you can file them."

Briggs chuckled nervously, "They're kosher, 24 caret. Have ya lawyer
check ‘em if ya like but I don't run no shabby
business."

"You snatch children for illegal adoptions. Or do you think I honestly
believed that crap about poor teenaged girls
wanting the best for their bastards?"

"Your-yours was a special case. I don't-"

"Save it for the jury, Briggs. I don't care. I've got what I want. The
Syndicate will be grateful."

"Syndicate? I-I thought you were..."

"I loathe children, Mr Briggs."

Briggs glanced at the Kid.

"What...what do you want her for?"

"She is useful to us as a bargaining chip, what happens to her afterwards
is of no consequence."

Briggs licked his lips, knowing he was in well over his head. He'd badly
miscalculated. "Maybe, Maybe I could have
her back?" He said, hoping to gain some of his lost ground. "...For a-for
a price, of course, she's a very pretty kiddie,
she'd be in demand."

"Perhaps, but first me and my associate here have plans for her." He
waved his hand at his ‘wife.' Briggs glanced
nervously at the woman, who during their previous meeting had been
nothing but the weak distressed and unfortunately
barren wife desperate for a child. So desperate as to want to buy one
and not care where it came from. "I trust there was
no complications?"